ACBC Insights Centre

Daigou, pronounced 'dye-go', means 'buying on behalf of', and is an e-commerce channel between mainland Chinese buyers and overseas professional shoppers. This network of shoppers buy goods in New Zealand or Australia which may be expensive, hard to find or unavailable in China. Categories like mother and baby, beauty, high-end food and beverage and nutraceuticals may make their way from New Zealand supermarket or pharmacy shelves to China via Daigou, sometimes without the brand owners being aware of the scale of the movement. Almost all purchases are mediated by social media or e-commerce platforms, which make a relationship driven channel viable over long distances and with large numbers of buyers. A lot of Daigou trading takes place via WeChat, China’s largest social media platform. WeChat includes Facebook and Twitter-like functions, and also features online stores and direct payments between users. WeChat’s importance as a social media platform in China makes it an ideal place for part-time and full-time Daigou to do business with friends, family and other contacts. Daigou also establish their own personal stores on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao. Consumers can browse, shop and review individual sellers on these platforms.